If you’re compiling a time-to-get-acquainted-with list of the best albums you missed in 2023, you need to not only add Photon Band’s Pure Photonic Matter, V. 2 (Darla) to it, but also put the LP very near the top. The latest from Art DiFuria’s long-running combo doesn’t deviate much from the psychedelic/punk-tinged British Invasion rock of the band’s impressive back catalog, but the 12-track album is among Photon Band’s best collections of songs from its three-decade career. One of Pure Photonic Matter, V. 2’s many highlights is “Dude, Leave The Headphones On.” While its title provides great advice for the optimal way to listen to Photon Band’s often-trippy tunes, DiFuria says its meaning goes a bit deeper.
“It just sorta came to me—lyrics, chords and all—very quickly, while I was staring at the sky one night and thinking that sometimes, it’s just better to stay under the headphones than it is to engage,” he says. “I guess it wound up being a song about isolating, connecting, the space between them, needing both, but also experiencing the pitfalls of both. Kind of like ‘Wichita Lineman’ without the telephone poles.”
“Dude, Leave The Headphones On” is the first video from Pure Photonic Matter, V. 2, and we’re proud to premiere it today. Check it out now, and look for Photon Band on tour this summer.
